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Thursday, May 19, 2011

In 2003 we watched in horrified fascination as the noble Gordon family of Black Mirror castle struggled to hold an ancient evil at bay. Years later, we again saw the primeval scourge work its evil on the Gordons, this time on a new generation. This spring, we once again enter the twilit halls of Black Mirror castle as the Gordon family's last remaining scion fights for his life in a cataclysmic clash between good and evil. This chapter, Black Mirror III: Final Fear, proves itself to be the best chapter yet, thanks to some cleverly designed point-and-click gameplay and a spell-binding tale of murder, betrayal and possession.

Black Mirror III takes place in the 1990's in the small English village of Willow Creek. Directly following the climactic events of Black Mirror II, young American college student Darren Michaels escapes a dark conspiracy only to find himself accused of arson and murder. Undaunted, and after finding himself unexpectedly connected to Willow Creek's infamous Gordon family, he makes it his business to discover the source of the Gordon family curse. The main thrust of the game is in helping Darren (who's found his true name to be Adrian Gordon) come to grips with his newfound nobility as well as to resist the dark spirit that's invaded his soul. Mordred, an evil Gordon ancestor, has somehow possessed him and the resulting spiritual duality turns the ordinarily normal young man into a modern day Jekyll and Hyde.

The strain of Adrian's multiple personality disorder affects him badly; the once handsome college student shambles around haunted and haggard, with deeply hollowed cheeks, popping prescription drugs he hopes will prevent his unpredictably violent fugue states. Unfortunately for him and regardless of the medication, as time goes on the visions grow worse as Mordred threatens to overcome him. To make matters worse, he's forced to endure the bias and hostility of Willow Creek's small-minded inhabitants. Staid and proper on the surface, Willow Creek holds more secrets than a Hollywood plastic surgeon; the pub owner is a drunken, abusive thief, the café owner is cheating on her spouse, the hotel manager is a conniving conman, and the psychologist is a compulsive chain smoker. Even the cops are corrupt and led by a bitter police chief who'd rather be anywhere but Willow Creek. Despite their own shortcomings, these residents are not particularly sympathetic to the young Yankee's plight and none too keen on strangers suspected of murder.

This conflict between the American-college-student-turned-English-Lord and the provincials of Willow Creek makes for a mystery that's fresh but familiar. Skillfully blending past and present, the story's bursting with ghosts, hidden treasures, conspiracies, secret chambers and arcane rituals as you follow the trail that leads to the heart of Black Mirror castle. Difficult situations present themselves along the way, most of which can be solved by good old common sense; occasionally you're asked to solve a traditional puzzle of the combination lock or "Indiana Jones booby-trap" variety and these require a bit more brain power. Some of the latter might prove too challenging for less experienced adventure gamers, but many of them can be skipped so that gamers unable to find the solutions can continue to progress.

In addition to the engaging plotline and interesting puzzle design, the game features a solid script, professional (if occasionally cartoony) voice acting and some beautifully complex environment art. Adrian's a likable young hero with a (slightly overdone) Boston accent. A child of the '90s, he's full of slackerish, Gen-X cynicism and prone to making amusingly sardonic comments about everything he sees. The villagers too can be highly entertaining as they go about their paranoid little lives. And though Adrian never ventures beyond the environs of Willow Creek, we're treated to a considerable range of interesting locations, especially once the mystery surrounding the castle begins to heat up.

Black Mirror III can be a mesmerizing game. A few things however, dilute the fun. While the graphics in general are crisply detailed, the cutscenes are blurrily low-res and the contrast between the two is a jarring distraction. Scrolling through inventory items is a pain thanks to a scroll button that repeatedly vanishes. Finally, the game's ending is extremely anti-climactic. After hours and hours of build up toward what promises to be an explosive conclusion, the whole creepy, convoluted, demon-powered thing just…ends.

Closing Comments

Black Mirror III: Final Fear is for the most part, a good adventure game that serves as a fitting end to an absorbing trilogy. It's beautiful, well-written and cleverly-designed and if its only flaws were a flaky scroll button and blurry cutscenes, it would warrant an unmitigated thumbs up. Unfortunately, after working toward a spectacular ending, it disappoints mightily with a resolution that fails to satisfy or even, really, to make sense. Nevertheless, aside from letting us down in the last five minutes, it's a highly entertaining title that's definitely worth taking the time to play.